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This weeks Sunday roundup is finally here, lets see what we missed this week. Major Nelson announces an update to Xbox Clubs, the announcement of some platforming mechanical animals hitting … Read More

Fire Pro Wrestling was developed by Spike Chunsoft Co. and published by Microsoft. It was released on September 21, 2012 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Fire Pro Wrestling is a franchise that dates back to the late 1980s and has been met with a strong fan following. Although only three entries have released in the United States, the series has garnered a large cult following. The franchise gained popularity due to its old school, sprite based graphics and its deep combo and customization systems. The last major entry in the series, 2005's Fire Pro Wrestling Returns for the PlayStation 2, gained the series a cult following in the West.

Now, the franchise has returned with the long delayed Fire Pro Wrestling, which repackages with a shiny Avatar wrapping; the game hit XBLA earlier this month. How does it hold up? Is it worth your hard earned MSP? Read on.

Fret not, XBLAers – Avatar items listed for sale by actual currency this week don't indicate a move away from MSP, according to a statement put out by Microsoft today. The appearance of dollars and cents (or Euros or yen or what have you) in the Marketplace was a simple glitch, the company says.

While it could easily be argued that Nintendo doesn't fit in very will with mature gamers at times, they do have somewhat of a monopoly on a few types of games. Take the Super Smash Bros series, for example. They've had total control of the fighting sub-genre they helped make popular since the first game in the series. Sure, great games like Small Arms have had their day in the sun, but Mario and his crew have remained the relatively unchallenged kings. They've remained at the top for so long that Sony decided to try their hand with the long-titled PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. It too boasts the best that Sony-owned franchises have to offer: characters like Nathan Drake, Kratos and Sweet Tooth. So why hasn't Microsoft joined in and created a mascot fighter. Kotaku tracked down Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft's game studios at E3 and asked that exact question. His response was that players "do not want" that type of game. We disagree, as do the Smash Bros series' collective 21.45 million copies sold

And what of Mario Party? Would you believe that Mario Party 8 alone has sold more than 7.6 million copies? Mock if you want, but that series is successful because it's fun. They're games that anyone, old or young, can get into, understand, and have fun with. It's great for family game nights, college dorm competitions, double dates, and more.

So where's our Avatar Party? Such a game does not exist, but it could, and could potentially draw in those players who reluctantly turn on their Wii once and a while to play Smash Bros or Mario Party. We think combining the two could be a potential gold mine, even if we're not using system-based mascots. So join us as we try something new. Instead of pitching the return of an old game we love, we're pitching a new one entirely: Avatar Party.